Ancient Rocks and a Giraffe
by spacegypsy1
Summary: Daniel's and Vala's convoluted journey to finally admitting their feelings.
1. Chapter 1

Ancient Rocks and a Giraffe

spacegypsy1

Daniel's and Vala's convoluted journey to finally admit their love.

-o0o-

The smile suddenly faded as General Landry raised his voice, "Dr. Jackson, that's an order!"

"That'll take two months! I've got a backlog of work already!"

Landry only stared, bushy brows lowering, eyes narrowing and mouth set in a hard line.

"Yes, sir." Daniel pulled out his phone opening the calendar app. "I could schedule that..."

"Now. Today. Pack up, you have about five hours, Colonel Carter has the _Hammond_ on a tight schedule with no time to wait on you. I suggest you find someone to assist, take Dr. Moore, he's knowledgeable in the Ancients. Take any one person you want. Just get ready. Dismissed!"

Mouth opening and closing without sound, Daniel tired to speak before finally turning with a sigh and leaving.

By the time he entered his office he was so mad, his ears felt like they were on fire.

"Oh. There you are." Vala looked up from the pile of relics with a grin. "I have the last set done and ready to...Daniel? What's wrong?"

"I've got to take a bunch of big wig scientist to Ortus Mallum on an expedition!" He grabbed a duffle bag and started collecting journals and reference books.

Incredulous, she squeaked out, "You mean, now!"

He jerked his head around towards her with a glare, "yes, now! What the hell did you think I meant!"

She glared right back. "Oh, I see. Mitchell's off on his little jaunt with the flyboys, and Teal'c's off in Jaffa land. So...you've been reassigned and somehow it's all my fault! As usual!" Vala turned away with a huff.

Contrite, Daniel approached her. "Sorry. It's not your fault and I'm not mad at you. It's just that I still have a back log from years away chasing bad guys." Laying a hand on her shoulder he squeezed gently and went back to choosing what books he needed.

Vala stood. "Can I help?"

Looking up, he smiled. "Could you call Jake Moore and see if he can tag along. Let him know we're leaving in..." Daniel suddenly blinked. "Wait." His face split in a grin. Vala was the one person in his department that could keep up with the day to day operations, who knew enough about the artifacts to catalog, log them in the proper journal, and store them for him. She knew his methodology. Hell, she was the only person who could make some since of his notes! And Landry had said he could take anyone he wanted. There was no way his scant department could keep up for two months. It wouldn't take more then a few weeks for Landry to recall them if Vala wasn't here keeping everything in motion. Besides, who did he think he was kidding. He'd be lost without her...damn he hated that!

"What?" Vala asked, her smile widening at the grin on Daniel's face.

"Do you want to go?"

"Me?"

"Yep. I need an assistant. You know the drill. You've been there," he shrugged, "Why not? Do you want to?"

"Yes." She said in amazement, wondering why in the world he'd want her, but not asking.

"Great! Let's get what we need here and then pack. If we hurry, we should have enough time for a quick lunch with Sam when she gets here."

"Samantha? We're going with Samantha! I'm going to my room and pack, and I'll come back and help you with..." Vala waved a hand around the office, "...all this stuff." She dashed out.

"Vala! Be sure to take whatever it takes to keep you from getting bored!" Daniel buried his hands deep in his pockets and sighed with a quirky roll of his eyes, Suddenly it dawned on him that he had in reality, just ask Vala to accompany him. That should make him uneasy...funny thing, though, it didn't. Actually, it made him...well...happy.

-o0o-

''Daniel, must you talk incessantly about every tiny detail, place, thing? Couldn't you just have skimmed over the long boring facts and told them what the Ark was and where we found it! Did it really require three hours of Alteran backstory? One little paragraph and a few slides would have been sufficient! Picture one, the Ark found in the ruins. Picture two, the Ark opening and doing its magic. Picture..."

Tapping his papers on the table, Daniel narrowed his eyes. "There was only one person in this room yawning. Everyone else was interested!" His voice rose exponentially with each word.

"They were comatose!"

"They were paying attention!"

"They were..."

"Enough, you two!" Sam stood at the door to the small conference room on the _George Hammond_. She'd had enough of their bickering. The arguing between them had escalated each day. It was making her crew uneasy. As far as she could remember, they had never argued so much, constantly about any thing and every thing. "We'll be arriving tomorrow...thankfully. I'll be dropping you and your guests off as we planned. I've been thinking, though, that maybe, you, Vala," Sam turned to her friend, "might want to stay on board. We'll be doing some surveys around this system for about four weeks and then head back to pick up..."

"No." Vala said emphatically, at the exact time Daniel blurted out, "Ah, no."

Sam raised a brow in question.

"Well, I mean, Daniel might need me." Vala bit her lip, brows furrowing.

"Right. I mean, I have...stuff she needs to do." Daniel looked down at the papers in his hands. He slowly lifted his eyes and then quickly handed the papers to Vala. "Like this. She needs to keep up...er...with these."

"Yes, I do. I need to keep up with all this paper. You know how Daniel is. He's always losing things and actually, I have to carry his extra glasses...just in case."

Daniel nodded in affirmation, pushing his glasses up his nose with one finger.

It was all Sam could do to keep a straight face. They just didn't get it. They were blatantly doing their mating ritual, which had heightened considerably since she last saw them, and still the two had no idea how much they cared for each other...how they felt. "Alright. Fine. I'll see you two at dinner. Hopefully we can get through that without an argument."

"Not a problem." Daniel said, once again looking down.

Vala only grinned large and saluted.

Once Sam was gone, the room grew quiet. Then, as if on cue, they both spoke at the same time. Vala telling Daniel, "It wasn't really, boring, Daniel." While Daniel confessed, "Maybe it was a bit on the long side."

Their faces relaxed in tender smiles. Eyes locked, they stared at each other with only the gentle thrum of the _George Hammond_ surrounding them.

When the urge to kiss Vala became overwhelming, Daniel took a breath, turned his eyes away, and told her, "Our last real meal for a while, we better get going."

"Hmm, okay." Vala ran a fingernail across the table inching her way towards where Daniel's hand rested. Reaching her destination, she placed her hand atop his.

It felt like a branding iron! Daniel had to control the need to snatch his hand away to keep from scaring. There seemed to be alarms going off in his head and other body parts. It was difficult to swallow. His glasses didn't seem to correct his blurred vision. He took a deep breath, cleared his clogged throat, "er...ah...if...if you want to take anything that won't fit in your pack, you should leave it in the supply room by the other gear. They'll pack it on the..."

Vala squeezed his hand gently and then let go. "Right. Will do."

She'd cooed, looking all sultry and sexy. Batting those lashes. Slowly licking that mouth. The one he desperately wanted to kiss. Daniel felt his knees close to buckling. "I'll meet you in Sam's quarters for dinner." He managed to sound fairly normal as he pulled his hand from hers.

"I'll be there." Vala tossed her hair, grinned wide, shrugged her shoulders high, and sauntered out.

"Damn." Daniel whispered as he watched her six disappear out the door, fighting the almost irresistible need to go get her and take that lovely mouth in a heated kiss. _Uh oh..._ '_Houston...we have a problem'...big problem. Crap! How the hell did that happen?_

_~*~*~*~*~*~*~*TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

Ancient Rocks and a Giraffe

spacegypsy1

Chapter Two

-o0o-

"You know, Daniel, it's awfully dangerous down there...or don't you remember?" Vala was leaning over peering into the opening that lead into the ruins where they had found the Ark.

"Of course, I do." Taking her by the shoulders Daniel moved her aside. "They're archeologists, field scientists, physicists, all five of them are aware of the dangers...and the treasures." _Oh crap, _Daniel thought the instant her eyes lit up, _wrong word!_ "Not THAT kind of treasure." He couldn't stop the grin in response to her fake pout.

Vala checked her P-90, then with a sweet smile, she nudged him with her elbow. "One never knows! There could be something of value...to me...down there. We never got the chance to look." Shivering with remembered dread, her smile turned to a frown.

Moving close beside Vala, Daniel waved the group of three men and two women into the the tunnel. Once the last one had ducked into the small opening, he turned to Vala, touching her face briefly. "We'll be fine. It's all going to be easy now. No bad guys to torture us. The engineering crew was here months ago shoring up the ruins." With a flourish of his hand towards the entrance he grinned. "Ladies first."

Laughing, Vala looked behind her, "I think they're all inside, darling."

"Right, then pirates next." With a playful shove, he moved her forward.

-o0o-

"Well, Daniel, it's been two days, what do you have to say now about the 'no bad guys' to torture us?"

His head dropped, chin to chest, and he grumbled to himself.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you...what with the rattling chains and all. And your nice friends not being here...because they obviously ran like a bunch of girls...at least the guys did, the women probably just ran screaming to the cargo ship and..."

"Vala! Please!" Daniel moved the metal cuff on his wrist away from the sorest point.

"...and did anyone bother to train them in contacting..."

"Yes! They all went through training. Dr. McKinney can fly the cargo ship. I'm sure they'll manage to get some help. Please stop ranting, it doesn't help"

"Ha! Have you seen my nails? And my wrists are bleeding. My hair is matted. I'm starving! I haven't had a shower..."

"Stop. Please. I've heard it all before." Daniel put his arm around her pulling her closer.

"My six is freezing." Her sad little complaint made him smile.

"Sit on my lap."

"Isn't your lovely bum cold on this floor?" Vala moved her chain behind his neck and managed to crawl up on his lap. "And who knew this place was even on this planet! It does look a bit familiar though." She tucked her head under his chin. "A lot of good your SGC surveys and scans did."

Buzzing the top of her head with a kiss, Daniel slid his arm down to encircle her waist. "Our SGC, Vala. 'Your ' indicates you're not involved."

"Hmph, well, you know what I mean. I hope they will come soon to rescue us. And where are our bad guys? They haven't fed us in two days. Do you think they're going to feed us every two days? Because if it's every three days, I don't think I'm going to make it. And, Daniel, who are these people? And I use that term loosely, since we have never seen or heard from them."

Pressing his cheek against her hair, Daniel rocked back and forth. "I don't think we're on Ortus Mallum."

"Oh, please tell me we are not...Daniel?" She yawned, mumbling sleepily, "I think I recognize this cell."

Daniel took a quick scan of the cell, it was definitely the dungeon in the City of the Gods. _Yep, bad memory, but we got out before, _he thought to himself, settling back against the stone wall, too sleepy to care right now. "Go to sleep, Vala." Daniel said softly, but she was already sound asleep.

-o0o0o-

"What the...son of a bitch! You can't send those two anywhere without some catastrophe!" Mitchell was yelling as he came through the Stargate into the SGC.

"I must agree, ColonelMitchell, it does seem so." Teal'c nodded towards the colonel before peering up into the control room. "Perhaps it is more of a catastrophe than initially thought."

Mitchell followed Teal'c's line of sight. "Crap. It's bad if General O'Neill showed. Landry looks a mite concerned. Damn! This is gonna be big trouble."

"Indeed. Though, when we were called back to Stargate Command, I had some idea of the seriousness."

Mitchell grinned and then nodded at Teal'c in agreement. "Damn, but those two are nothin' but a headache. Let's head on up, we might as well get this over with. Hopefully, it's just another normal day in Daniel/Vala land. With those two it can't be that serious – at least I hope not. I swear, one day they're gonna end up killin' each other or gettin' married. Either way, it's gonna be bad."

Teal'c stopped suddenly, "I would prefer them married rather than dead."

Mitchell turned, still running his mouth as he walked backwards. "I don't think you could kill Vala with an axe. And we all know she wouldn't let Jackson die. So basically what we have here is a rescue mission. We just gotta find out where they are and bring them back. Hell, they're probably at each other's throats by now... or worse. I wouldn't be surprised if they were doin' the deed. It's bound to happen. Death or ...well the other one. I don't like it, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!"

-o0o0o-

Vala awoke suddenly, eyes popping open and heart racing. She could feel Daniel's body warmth along her back, butt, thighs and legs. His arm lay across her on the left side. Her right side was cold and uncomfortable where she lay on the stone floor. At first she smiled, pleasantly noting Daniel's evident reaction to her nearness.

She blinked, narrowing her eyes at the objects across the room. Those hadn't been there before. "Daniel?" Vala whispered, poking an elbow, softly, but firmly into his side.

"Ugh! Huh?" He stretched, groaning. "Gah! What!" Daniel moved his hips away from her nice warm bottom.

Vala wiggled her butt back against his groin. "Not that, darling." Pointing across the room, she indicated their two vests. "That. Well, actually, those."

He was up in an instant getting halfway across the expanse before the length of chain stopped him unceremoniously. He blanched, gritting his teeth in pain, and then turned to look astonished at Vala. "That's odd."

Pushing herself up she ran fingers through her tangled hair. Her eyes were locked on the water bottle dangling by a hook on the side of her pack. "I need that water bottle. Then my brush and then a powerbar. Can you reach them?"

She never ceased to amaze him. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes a moment to gain control. _Try not to yell_, he told himself. "Your brush? That's what you need?"

"Well. Yes. Then food, but water first. Answer the question, Daniel. Can you reach them?"

Astonishment clearly written on his face, Daniel let out a disgruntled sigh. He'd woken up all of a sudden with a certain body part as hard as the stone floor. A sharp elbow in his side. Her scent, which should, after the past few days, have been not so pleasant, actually very inviting. He was so lost in her warmth he'd forgotten for a second where they were. And now this. Her snippy question as to whether or not he could reach the mysteriously appearing utility vests because she was impatient for her brush.

And what did he do? Look up, smile and nod. Mitchell had been right long ago, he may as well marry the chick! He was going to be stuck with her forever anyway.

Lowering himself to sit on the floor, Daniel stretched the chain to it's limit.

"Daniel, if you lay down you can use your foot..."

"I know that! Damnit, Vala! I'm not an idiot!"

"Why are you so grouchy, just a moment ago I would have thought you were..."

"Aht!" He pointed a finger at her, eyes narrowed and threatening. "Don't go there."

She licked her dry lips. "Obviously, it was you who went 'there', not me. I was innocently asleep. Although, I must say, it was quite a delight to..."

"Vala!"

"Okay, fine. Just get the vests."

-o0o0o-

"Wait!" Jack raised his voice with obvious rancor, "Let me see if I have this right. You five left the tunnel ahead of Daniel and Vala on your way to dinner. Daniel, being in a place full of possible undiscovered artifacts, remained behind and of course his shadow stayed, too. Right so far?" Jack glared around the table at the nodding heads.

"Okay. Then, one of you thought, maybe they detected a 'sort of funny' whining sound. Then one other one thinks she spots some kind of aircraft/spaceship possibly landing in a 'misty kinda' bright light, but maybe it was something else. Another sees a someone, a something or a some bunch of somethings rush out of said 'misty kinda' bright light that might have been some kind of aircraft/spaceship/thingamabob, into the underground tunnel." Jack rubbed his eyes, then his forehead, finally running his hands down his cheeks, pulling the skin taut, all the while trying desperately not to go full blown nuts and knock a few heads off of a few shoulders!

"Then en masse, you all hot foot it to the cargo ship, manage to get it airborne and contact the George Hammond." Jack sighed, looked to Mitchell, then Carter, and finally Teal'c. "Do you guys see what I have to deal with!"

He turned once again to the five who'd high tailed it off Ortus Mallum. "Did I miss anything, or is that about it? No details on a ship, that may or may not have been one, a light, stuff like that. No recognition of possible someones? Nothing? Nada? Nill? Zip, Zero? That's all folks?"

"Sir! We had no weapons, we thought if..."

"Aht! 'splain that one to me. You were all issued weapons." Jack looked at Mitchell for confirmation and received a nod.

"Ah, er, sir, we had left them at the site when we went for dinner."

"Oh. Great. Good. That works. I'm done. Leave. Now."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Ancient Ruins and a Giraffe

spacegypsy1

Chapter Three

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Except for our weapons, scanners, radios, every thing is here." Daniel was perplexed by this entire scenario. _Who had snuck up on them and why? Why Celestis and the dungeons? The place seemed deserted. And why return the vests? _Daniel's musings were interrupted when Vala pulled her giraffe out of her vest pocket and shook it in front of his face. How that silly thing gave her so much comfort was a mystery to him...but it did and that made him smile.

Sotto voce, Vala spoke for the giraffe. "So, Dr. Jackson," the giraffe seemed to say, "care to explain a certain state of arousal the other morning? And does it bear any propensity for feelings for one Vala Mal Doran?"

"Stop that!" Daniel looked up, swatting the silly toy away. "There's a time and place for that and it's not here and now." He continued reading over notes taken in the tunnels of Ortus Mallum to see if he could discern who else might be interested enough to knock them out and take them back to the City of the Gods. Some renegade Ori Prior? Tomin... after Vala?... Holy shit... no, that's a weird thought. Ancients?...

"Oh! Really!? There IS a time and place for it? Where and when, darling?"

Keeping his sight on the journal, Daniel ignored her.

Looking the toy in the eye, Vala pouted and told the giraffe, "Hmph, no answer. Just as I suspected." She stuffed the creature back into her vest pocket, pulled out a power bar, a pack of M & M's, her small travel brush, hair bands and a magazine. Once her hair was brushed and banded in pig tails, Vala ate as she read while Daniel poured over his notes...in typical fashion - completely engrossed and ignoring her.

Hours later she practically had to snatch the journal from him to get him to eat one power bar. "Daniel, you have to eat! I need you to get me out of here."

He lifted only his eyes, right over the rim of his glasses, and gave her a warning look. "That's what I'm trying to do."

"Amazing. While you were in the tunnels of Ortus Mallum, you found the information that you would need to get us out of here. That is so clever. However did you manage it?"

Taking his glasses off, he held them with one hand and rubbed his tired eyes with the other. "There could be something in these notes and drawings. It's worth a shot...since you can't reach the lock with your hair pin and open the cell door!"

Vala yawned. "Well, I tried. It's not my fault these old manacles are immune to my skills. They obviously have some kind of Ori hoodoo on them."

"Hoodoo? Don't you mean Voodoo?"

Popping an M and M in her mouth she shrugged, "I'm not sure. What time is it?"

Again he looked over the rim of his glasses. "I have no idea. I don't even know what day it is."

"It's Thursday, darling. What time does your watch have. That's what time it is on Earth and I'm so sleepy. Does it seem late?"

Closing the journal Daniel looked at her with a quizzical tilt of his head. "I don't know what time it is, but don't you think it's strange that we fall asleep early every night and sleep soundly? Too soundly."

"I think it's strange that I get to sleep with you, and that you are most assuredly fit and ready to have a little...well...activity, but..."

He looked away to hide his grin. "Can we talk about that later?"

Shoulders slumping,Vala pouted. "Alright, but I really need you as my pillow to sleep." She tried to give him a toothy grin, but failed with a yawn instead.

"Okay, but I'm going to try and stay awake." Daniel settled on the floor beside her.

She snuggled into his warmth, lying her head on his shoulder, and a hand a bit too far up the inside of his thigh.

"Vala. Stop." He looked down to find her sound asleep. Blinking, he yawned. _Stay awake, _he told himself as his head lulled over to rest on top of Vala's.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jack accompanied Sam and the remainder of SG-1, along with SG-2 and SG-3 to the Ortus Mallum region where Daniel and Vala had disappeared.

They had split up - searching the area in every direction. Jack stood in front of the entrance to the Alteran tunnels, which they discovered had been recently blasted closed. He was worried.

Teal'c's voice over the radio, startled Jack. "O'Neill. I cannot find any signs of a craft or any additional tracks leading from the tunnel. ColonelDixon and SG-2 cannot locate anything around the cargo landing site except the prints of the five scientists."

Mitchell radioed in, "nothin' in my direction and Reynolds and SG-3 have reconned the perimeter – nothin' going on around the back end either."

"Alright, Teal'c, Mitchell, Carter, let's regroup here." Jack frowned at the pile of stone covering the entrance. "The rest of you keep looking."

Once SG-1 and Sam returned, Jack, hands deep in his pockets, asked, "Carter?" He looked across the rubble as Sam once again scanned the area.

"There is still no sign of life in the tunnels … odd thing is Daniel's and Vala's personal gear is missing from their tents. All of the personal gear of the others is still there. The lab has been destroyed. All technology smashed, all records, computers, findings are gone."

"DanielJackson may have found something and initiated some sequence..." Teal'c was cut off by Jack's response.

"Damn it! What!!?? and took his gear with him? Ya think he just packed up and hauled his pirate and all his stuff with him? Crap, I wouldn't put it past him!"

"Then who wrecked the place?" Mitchell asked.

Shrugging, Jack glanced around the clearing. "So. White lighted?"

"Could be Asgard beaming." Sam offered quietly.

"Or some kinda technology we haven't seen?" Mitchell wondered aloud, shaking his head.

Teal'c's deep voice reverberated around the gathering. "Perhaps it was the Alteran's?'

The others turned to him, all nodding.

"And the whine of engines?" Jack scrubbed his face with his hands in frustration.

Teal'c, Mitchell, and Sam respond at once. "Imagined?" "A mystery to me." "I can't explain it...yet."

Jack scowled at the threesome.

Mitchell scratched his chin. "Somethin' like a Sudan cloak, maybe?"

"Or a cloaked ship?" Sam suggested.

"I think it was those god damned Ancients! I thought we were finished with them. I think they got their panties in a wad with Daniel snooping around their old haunt. I think they've shipped him off somewhere to keep him from finding out their magic secrets. They're probably in cahoots with the flip side of their coin...the Ori - though their followers are still preaching the good old Origin religion."

Sam began to pack up her equipment. "Celestis, anyone?"

"Right!" Jack pivoted around, punching his radio. "Reynolds, Dixon, pack it up. We're going to the City of the Gods. Nice scenery I hear."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Daniel woke slowly, pulling Vala closer. He smelled coffee, definitely his favorite blend. Smiling, he mumbled into the back of her hair. "Awake? I smell coffee."

"Um, I smell cinnamon." Her eyes fluttered open. "A girl could get used to waking up next you to, darling. Do you smell cinnamon?" Raising on one elbow, Vala blinked to clear the sleep from her eyes. "Daniel? That's strange. Do you see that?"

There was a cot with one blanket and two pillows, against the wall. Some warm, yummy smelling mush, sat on the floor not far from them, two bowls full. And two cups of coffee, steam rising, next to the bowls.

They both sat up quickly. Daniel rose and carefully approached the objects that had been placed just within reach of the length of chain on his wrist.

Vala straightened her hair. "I feel like Shirley Temple in that movie, The Little Princess, except of course Shirley Temple had blond curly hair and she 's little, while I have black - that I have to curl to make curly - hair and I'm taller."

Daniel rolled his eyes and handed her a bowl, "eat"

"You don't think this is our last meal do you?" She asks seriously.

He only shrugged.

"'iss is 'eepy." Vala mumbled around a mouth full of mush.

He looked up with a furrowed brow. "What?"

"Creepy, This is creepy."

"O..'ight." He responded, wolfing down the mush.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Ancient Ruins and a Giraffe

spacegypsy1

Chapter Four

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I don't get it, Daniel. No one shows up. No one is torturing us. They or who-whatever, just keep us here for no apparent reason." Vala lounged across the little bed, giraffe in hand, flat on her back, feet on the covers, and knees bent, her head in Daniel's lap. "And now this. Our food, which by the way I don't think MREs should be called food, and most of our gear," she raised her hand in the air and waggled the giraffe to and fro, "extra water, towel, soap...well I have my soap, but no weapons, unless you count my fingernail file, and then there's the missing thingies, I mean the things that were taken...while we slept."

When he didn't answer, she pushed herself up and turned to smile at him. "Darling," Vala assisted the giraffe in pecking small kissed on Daniel's cheek while she made kissy sounds. "I'm sorry about your journals. That was very mean...to take them."

Staring across the room, Daniel grabbed Vala's wrist and moved the toy away from his face.

Crawling onto her knees, Vala moved closer. "Do you think they did it for some purpose, like to..."

"Of course they did!" He yelled at her.

She puffed up like a pigeon, "Don't you dare yell at me! It's not MY fault." The giraffe went flying at him, grazed his hair, and sailed into the air.

"I'm not mad, I'm... it's not you. I'm not yelling!" He yelled.

A truly angry Daniel could be daunting. She could see that he'd gotten to that point...this was how he did it... hard, boiling anger. He wasn't mad at her, she knew that. When he was mad at her...well, he wasn't really mad. But she'd seen his real anger a few times before.

No matter what he said she could see it in his eyes...he was very angry about something, and we was taking it out on her. "You are! You yelled at me and you're mad at someone else!"

"I'm not yelling at YOU!"

"Arg! You're so damned frustrating! You are yelling at me. Do you see anyone else in this cell!?" Her hands went to her hips and she tossed the hair out of her face, eyes narrowing.

Daniel blinked, amazed by how incredibly sexy she looked in anger...maybe that's why he liked to get her so mad. But there seemed to be a small glint of fear in her eyes – and this wasn't about Vala. He took a deep breath, but there was still a grouchy edge to his reply. "I'm sorry, I..."

"You're always sorry, Daniel!" She turned, yanked the chain that held her, and flopped down on her butt to scoot across the bed, her intention to leave his presence, at least as far as her chain allowed.

Daniel reached for her, hauling her backwards across the covers. "Wait! It's not you. It's those damned Alterans!"

"Hmph! Why do you insist it's the Alterians? What would they be doing here? Haunting? Maybe it's some Ori that survived, maybe it's some ascended dragon! Maybe it's cloaked or invisible aliens wanting to study us!"

"Invisible aliens? Come on, Vala! It's them alright, I've been there, I know!" Daniel looked up at the ceiling, "I know you're here! You may as well show up and start the dialog!"

Her entire demeanor changed in an instant. Her head tilted far back to see his face close behind her, and she gave Daniel a mischievous, reproachful look. "Darling, you know one day when we are out on a date, you are going to embarrass me doing that. Talking to your invisible friends." She settled back against this chest, tucking her head down again and crossing her arms over his that lay across her middle.

Anger subsided. And that was another thing she did. Vala could defuse him in an instant. With a thoughtful frown he placed his chin on top of her head. "Are you ever going to give up on the date thing?"

"No. Well, maybe one day."

"Don't." Daniel hugged her closer.

Both reminded silent, sitting quietly on the small bed, each with a bemused look.

Daniel puffed out his cheeks and let out a playful snort, then lifted her wrist that was bound in the wide metal cuff attached to her chain. "Sore?"

"Umm, a bit, yours?" Her eyes had flicked over to her wrist in question and settled on his strong hand gently holding her arm.

"A bit." He placed her hand back over his.

"Why not?"

"Huh?"

"Why not give up one day?"

Daniel's thumb grazed the rise of her breast and Vala dropped her eyes down with a wide grin. She felt him shrug.

"Because."

"Oh, right, because. Well, that 'because' better hurry up! I'm not waiting forever. Unless of course we both do the ascended thing, at which point I will reconsider." She squeezed his bicep, then let her fingers gently stroke his arm.

"Vala," there was a slight scolding tone in his voice. "This," he paused to clear his throat, "er, is something we need to discuss when we get home...I don't think..."

"Oh, please do not start the thinking what I'm thinking, what your thinking, thinking thing, I just can't deal with that today. I have way too much sitting around and doing nothing to do."

For some reason, that made perfect sense to him. Daniel turned her in his arms and kissed her, slowly, softly. At the first touch of her lips, he was lost to her and there was no holding back.

They both were caught up in the moment, that true first moment when love lain fallow springs forth, suddenly.

He meant to stop it there. The kiss, though heated and incredibly passionate, he meant to stop, at least for now. But she was not having it, locking her arms around his neck. He knew it then. This was real, here and now. In a dungeon in the City of the Gods, on Celestis. They had left the impasse behind. Surrendered to their true feelings. She had beaten down his walls, he had opened her locked gates. They fell back together on the bed lips locked, chains rattling.

Then, a disembodied voice called... "Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel blinked, pulling ever so slightly back, creating a tiny fissure between their mouths. "Huh?" Still kiss stunned, his mouth sought the heat of hers.

It didn't take long for Vala to take note of the glow, but it wasn't as important as the mouth that continued to seek, so Vala returned her mouth, tongue first, to the source of pleasure and tried to ignore the light. Off and on, her eyes would open and flick over, but the nectar of his kiss was too sweet to keep her attention on the light.

"Daniel Jackson?" The light intensified, and then waned, again and again.

"Hmm?" Daniel hummed the question into Vala's mouth.

"You must stop." Came the soft feminine lilt, kind and patient.

_Not gonna happen, and get out of my head. _So drunk on Vala, Daniel imagined that his subconscious had dredged up some protest to his kissing her. _I'm done with all that. No more denying, this is what I want._

Solidifying into a multi-armed entity, the Being appeared to dance around behind Daniel. "Daniel Jackson, I speak of your search. You must stop." With out anger, but firm and patient, the voice insisted.

"Hello?" Not sure what had transpired, Vala broke the seal of lips and looked up confused. "Didn't someone call?"

Fingers dug into her hair to bring her back, "No, sorry, just my head acting up. Love you," he whispered against her mouth.

Just as his questing mouth went for the prize, Vala's dropped open in awe and her head jerked up. That's when she saw the glowing figure clearly...and that's when her head grazed his face.

Daniel's eyes nearly crossed with the sting of the impact. His glasses went flying, "Holy...ow, crap!" Hands tented over his nose as blood spewed forth.

"Oh, darling! Oh, oh." Vala untangled herself, dragging her chain painfully across his neck as she attempted to rise. "Let me get you a towel, did you say you love me? And what is THAT doing here?" Pointing behind Daniel, Vala indicated the Being who now had a woman's face but remained a multi-armed light.

He tried to look behind, making himself dizzy. Rolling over, elbows on the bed and hands still tenting his face, he squinted, dropped his blood stained hands, and blinked at the Ascended being. "Holy...shit!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~ TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Ancient Rocks and a Giraffe

spacegypsy1

Chapter Five

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What the...?" Daniel jumped off the bed, nearly tripping himself with the chain, as blood soaked his T-shirt. He lifted the edge of the shirt to wipe at the nose bleed. "Stop my search? Of the ruins? Who the hell are you?"

Vala's eyes immediately locked on his exposed belly as Daniel continued to dab at the blood trickling from his nose. The concern she felt upon realizing they were probably here because of this woman, took back seat. She had a thought while staring at his adorable belly... _Ancient equals safe, exposed Daniel belly equals wow, shallow, I know. But really, Ancients just aren't as interesting at this moment. Except Daniel can have is little dialog, get her...it to take the chains off, I'll unlock the door, she'll be gone...hmm, yes shallow. But that works for me. Unless of course, we die. _Vala managed to force her gaze from Daniel.

The multi-armed being began to take shape, forming into a thin, dark haired woman. "Annona." She held up a hand and his nose bleed stopped as her eyes darted towards Vala for just an instant.

"Annona, sounds familiar, have we met?" Furrowing his brows in thought, Daniel continued, "And thank you for stopping the nose bleed. Why do you want me to stop my research?"

The woman was watching her. Squirming a bit, Vala wondered if the thing had read her mind. "Yes, Ann, why?"

Both the Alteran and Daniel gave Vala a confused look.

"You must not come to study Ortus Mallum or Celestis, Daniel Jackson."

"Well, Ann," Vala tossed her head back, " I will have you know WE did not come to Celestis, someone, perhaps you, brought us here. And Ortus Mallum is a free country and besides that, you interrupted something that was very important and..."

Daniel laid a hand on Vala's arm to shush her. "Annona, I'm an archeologist, historian, I study..."

"Leave and do not return." Annona began to move towards the cell door.

Watching Annona closely as she went all glowy again, Vala whispered. "Daniel, did I misunderstand something, a moment ago, when you were kissing me? Some words, perhaps?"

Annona turned just as she walked through the bars. "Leave the sacred sites intact and forget what you have learned. You have accomplished what you intended beyond our expectations."

Turning to Vala, Daniel spoke quickly, "no, you didn't." His gaze went back to Annona, "We saved you." He scowled, then feeling the tug on his sleeve, he shot a look at Vala.

"No? Meaning I didn't misunderstand or no there weren't some words I might have heard or not heard, or misinterpreted?"

Opening his mouth to reply to Vala, Daniel was interrupted by Annona.

"You are tenacious – but you must stop now. If you persist, if you return to Ortus Mallum, you will be taken again and will never be released."

Vala took a step toward Annona. "Ha! Not on my watch, he won't! And Would you mind waiting a bit to finish your demands? I was here first and this is very important to me."

Without taking her gaze from Daniel, Annona appeared annoyed, "Take the mother of the Orici home, she has no business here."

"Mother of the... ! If I have no business here then explain to me how I got here? And by the way, that whole mother thingie was not my fault! You seem a bit pushy. Who put you in charge? I want to see your superior!" Vala slammed her hands on her hips. "And one more thing! Stop looking so interested in my...my...man!"

Shocked, Daniel pivoted his head back and forth between the two. "What?"

Annona smiled again, purposely ignoring Vala. "I am one of the 'superiors'. I am one of the twelve original Alterans who ascended."

Shaking his head in confusion, Daniel tried to explain. "Annona, we are explorers, we only want to..."

Annona held up a hand, "You have made an impact, you were helped to survive. It is time to stop."

"Impact! Impact!? We saved your asses." Rage creating something deep inside him boiled up and silently screamed outward through his eyes.

Vala let out a little squeak, and stared at Daniel. The way he glared at Annona, was terrifying. He was controlled fury.

"You have managed, Dr. Jackson, to affect some of our brightest...removing them from the focus of non-interference, causing great concern, not to mention losing many to an eternity of conflict in order to keep YOU from extermination. "Shifu..."

"Shifu!? He's not in some conflict...is he?"

Vala quirked her mouth in thought. "Shifu... that's the..."

Annona continued without pausing. "Oma, Merlin, Orlin, Ganas Lol..."

Daniel stepped forward, dragging his chain. "They did what they knew was right!"

Holding up an hand, she stopped his progress.

Unable to move, he glared. "Oh, magic tricks! I see you have adopted Ori practices. Nice."

Annona, released him with a patronizing smile.

Vala continued to tug on his sleeve. "Daniel, be careful. And can't you let this go for another day? I want to talk to you. She's just bluffing. Unless of course they have taken up the Ori practices, in which case I am not prepared to die without clearing something up."

He turned with a wicked smile. "Right," he told Vala and turned again to Annona. "We'll stop." he lied, "How do we get out of here?"

"Your friends will be here in a few days – they too are resourceful. You are all a pestilence! We could stop them. We could stop you. We are giving you another chance. Do not seek further or you will be joining Orlin!"

Daniel smirked. "Right, or wipe out my memory and leave me naked on some planet."

Vala's brows went up and her eyes widened. She took her regard from the Alteran and studied Daniel with interest. "Really? That doesn't sound so bad."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jack rubbed the back of his neck and stared out the viewscreen. "Carter. I thought Celestis was close. How long will this take?"

Sam and Lt. Colonel Marks, her newly promoted 2IC, exchanged a weary look. "General, as I stated when we left Ortus Mallum, we were few days out. I have the hyperdrive at max, it won't be but a day, now."

Shooting a scolding glance over his shoulder, Jack mumbled something incoherent and once again watched the viewscreen.

"Carter!" Mitchell, followed by Teal'c, Reynolds, and Dixon, entered the bridge.

With a sigh, she turned, forcing a bright smile. "Yes?" It came out with a bit more of a snap then she intended.

"How much longer?"

Marks looked up, answering for his CO. "A day now, sir."

"Right. Good. We're ready." All four nodded, coming to stand in a line beside General O'Neill.

Jack leaned across Teal'c to whisper towards Mitchell, "She's kinda pissy, isn't she?"

"Yes, sir. That she is." Mitchell grinned.

"I believe," Teal'c began, pausing briefly at the looks from his former CO and his current CO, "that ColonelCarter is reticent due to the number of times, daily, you both ask the same question."

Jack and Mitchell swung their gazes to the Jaffa.

"Doh." Jack shoved his heads in his pockets.

Mitchell crossed his arms over his chest. "Duh."

"Ya know," Colonel Dixon interjected, "I haven't often had the chance to rescue, Jackson. And can't remember, but I don't think I've ever had to rescue The Princess. I'm feelin' privileged to be tagging along."

"Well, Dixon, won't be long before you change your tune and go running home to wife and kids!" Reynolds didn't bother to look at his friend, he just stared out the viewscreen while Jack and Mitchell started laughing.

"That bad, eh?" Dixon shuffled his feet and waited.

"Oh, yeah." Jack, Mitchell, and Reynolds said at once, followed closely by Teal'c's, "Indeed."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Snuggled up in the small bed, wrists still attached to chains and locked in the cell, Vala's giraffe perched up on the pillow, her head on Daniel's arm, they stared at the ceiling.

Daniel mused aloud, "I've been thinking about how to study the Ancients without getting 'caught'."

"Darling, we have better things to do...and it doesn't include Atlantis, Alterans or Ori. Or Goa'uld, or Replicators, for that matter."

He turned to face her, arranging his chain as not to injury either of them. "What things?"

"Things. You know, thinking what I'm thinking, things. And planning, Darling."

Kissing her forehead, Danial sighed. "Can you elaborate on 'planning'?"

"Well...I think we should name our first child Morgan, it works for both a boy or a girl and she was instrumental in..."

"Er, I though we were 'planning' to date. Now we're having children?" There was the slightest evidence of concern in his voice

"Yes, of course we are, we're in love and it's only natural to have children and as soon as we get back we're starting on that right away!"

Closing his eyes, he thought about that for a moment. With a resigned sigh, Daniel pulled her closer, completely wrapping her in his arms, tangling chains, and not caring. "Yes, we are...in love. So. We have to wait until we get back? I mean, since we have a bed and all."

Besides the fact that she fitted herself into every curve of his body, the only response he got was, "Grrrr."

~END


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